5 ... Allocution du président sortant [Suite de la page 73] Le site Web a été inclus dans le contrat qui a été accordé pour ce remplacement. Les gens au bureau de la SCMO ont travaillé avec énergie pour rendre ceci possible. C est une première étape pour permettre d autres changements à venir. La raison pour laquelle on fait tout çà, est pour que la SCMO soit en mesure d améliorer les services aux membres et, on l espère, attirer de nouveaux membres. Cependant, ceci ne peut aller que dans un sens et vous les membres pouvez aider également. Par exemple, je vous encourage à soumettre vos publications à notre revue Atmosphere-Ocean. C est l endroit tout indiqué où, je crois, on devrait retrouver des publications importantes concernant les réseaux nationaux de recherche financés par des subventions canadiennes. Je ne dis pas que tous nos articles devraient y être publiés car nous voulons se donner une visibilité internationale. Nous avons toutefois quelques inquiétudes concernant la baisse du nombre de manuscrits qui y sont soumis malgré qu Atmosphere-Ocean ait déjà un facteur d impact respectable. L exécutif n y peut rien mais vous pouvez changer ceci. Une recherche de haut niveau se fait au Canada et nous aimerions qu Atmosphere- Ocean puisse en témoigner. On devrait également utiliser le bulletin de la SCMO pour informer nos collègues d évènements et réalisations au Canada en sciences atmosphériques, océaniques et climatiques. D ailleurs, rappelez-vous que le CMOS Bulletin SCMO est lu par un public plus large. Il y a quelques semaines un journaliste m a contacté concernant le contenu de l une de mes colonnes. J ai été un peu surpris mais ceci m a fait réaliser que le Bulletin est perçu comme une revue contenant de l information fiable et pertinente. Je vous invite à en faire usage. Finalement, je souhaite la bienvenue à notre nouveau président, Harinder Ahluwalia. Au cours de la dernière année, il s est investi pour augmenter l intérêt envers la SCMO et attirer de nouveaux membres. J ai eu le plaisir de travailler avec lui cette année et nous partageons une vue commune concernant ce que pourrait être et sera, on l espère, l avenir de la SCMO. Je m arrête donc ici et je lui laisse le soin de continuer cette colonne aujourd hui et pour l année qui vient. Pierre Gauthier, Président sortant de la SCMO Le but de la SCMO est de stimuler l'intérêt pour la météorologie et l'océanographie au Canada. [La version française précède en page 73]... Words from the Outgoing President Friends and colleagues: My term as president is coming to an end. One year seems long at times but short when you want to get something done. Nevertheless, going back over what happened this year, several things were either completed or initiated. First thing on our agenda was to find a new executive director as Ian Rutherford wanted to step down after having served CMOS for so many years. We received applications from a few persons who expressed interest in being involved in CMOS and proposed interesting ideas of what CMOS could do. We selected Andrew Bell who brings his own approach to our society. What is true for Ian can also be said for Richard Asselin who was director of publications and served CMOS in many other ways over also many years. Before stepping down, he did manage to get Douw Steyn to take over his position as director of publications. Again we cannot thank him enough for his dedication to CMOS. Those who have been involved in organizing Congress scientific programs know how central Richard has been to make things go smoothly. When I became president, I had a few changes in mind on what should be made to improve both the services to our members and its visibility. One of them was to echo comments I heard for a long time about our website. One year later we are now ready for the new website s official opening. I cannot take any credit for that which was part of a broader effort to change the software used to manage the CMOS database that contains a wealth of information about the members, congresses, publications, and the archives. The website was included in a contract that was awarded to do just that. People at CMOS office worked very hard to make all this possible. It was a necessary first step for future changes. The reason we do this is for CMOS to improve the services to its members and hopefully, attract new members. However, this is not a one-way ticket and you the members can help also. For instance, I encourage you to submit more of your publications to our own Atmosphere-Ocean journal. I think this is where important publications on national networks research funded by Canadian grants should go. I am not saying that all of them should be published there as we do want to gain an international visibility. We have some concerns about the decline of papers submitted by Canadians to Atmosphere-Ocean despite the fact that it already has a respectable impact factor. We cannot do anything about this but you can. There is state-of-the-art research in our field in Canada and we would like Atmosphere-Ocean to showcase it CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.43, No.3, June 2014

6 We should also use the CMOS Bulletin SCMO to inform our colleagues about important events and achievements happening in Canada in atmospheric, oceanic, and climate sciences. Please note that the Bulletin is read by the general public. A few weeks ago a reporter contacted me about what I wrote in the bulletin. I was somewhat surprised but it made me realize that the bulletin is regarded as a publication with reliable and relevant information. Make use of it. Finally, let me welcome our new president, Harinder Ahluwalia. During the last year, he worked very hard to increase interest towards CMOS and attract new members. I had the pleasure to work with him over the last year and we share a common view on what the future of CMOS could be and hopefully, will be. So I am stopping here and give him the pen to continue this column today and for all of next year. Pierre Gauthier, Outgoing CMOS President... Words from the Incoming President Friends and colleagues: First of all I would like to congratulate Dr. Pierre Gauthier, our outgoing President, for a job well done during the last year. We worked very well together to lay the groundwork for a renewed CMOS. I look forward to similar cooperation from him as Past-President during my term as CMOS President. Harinder Ahluwalia CMOS Incoming President Nouveau président de la SCMO When I was asked by the Montreal Centre Chairman, Louis Lefaivre, to accept the nomination as CMOS Vice-President for the year 2013 to 2014, I was skeptical about what I could add to such a prestigious organization. Because Louis stated that this time they would like somebody known from industry to provide a different perspective, I accepted the nomination. My involvement as CMOS Vice-President since June 2013 has shown me that CMOS is a very prestigious organization but does not appear to be growing; in fact it is losing membership. Its voice is also not as strong as it should be as the premier organization in meteorology and oceanography, two of the most important fields for Canada for its safety and development. In order to keep up with the times and support met-ocean sciences as well as to make CMOS a unified voice for metocean, it needs to be strengthened considerably. It needs more members, more funds, and a strong membership benefits package. A society such as CMOS can be sustained but not brought to a higher level just with volunteers. We need some permanent staff to implement ideas generated by its Executive. In order to achieve that, we need funds and hence more members and sponsors. During my term as Vice-President we have started many initiatives to strengthen CMOS. These initiatives include convincing Environment Canada about certification and accreditation of meteorologists and technicians, recruiting meteorological information users, establishing a stronger relationship with the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and subsequently other international societies, enhancing membership benefits package, etc. In addition, in order to raise the CMOS profile, we need to have a strong communication and media relations wing. We have prepared a document Discussion Paper on a Roadmap for the Future of CMOS which acted as basis for discussion at the Rimouski Congress session "Future of CMOS". After defining our direction at the above-mentioned session and during the Annual General Meeting, my objective for the coming year would be to implement the initiatives we have started and agreed to in for the promotion of CMOS and met-ocean sciences. I believe that strength of science comes from its users; therefore, involvement of users is very important for collaboration and generation of ideas as well as financing. New government policy is to approve projects involving collaboration between industry, universities, and government scientists. In my humble opinion, the future of CMOS depends upon how we rejuvenate it. This is not the task of any single individual, it needs the support of all professionals and wellwishers of the Society. Let s work together and strengthen our venerable professional Society. Harinder Ahluwalia, Incoming CMOS President CMOS exists for the advancement of meteorology and oceanography in Canada. CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, Juin

7 ARTICLES Evaluation of Davis Instruments Entry-Level Weather Station by Sander Schimmelpenninck 1 At less than $400, Davis Instruments Vantage VUE is a decent multifunction weather station for amateur meteorologists with an analytical bent. VUE Indoor Console Description The system consists of a pole-mounted, solar-powered, wireless sensor package, an indoor display console, and a Windows- or Mac-based data storage and analysis software package. I bought it in late 2013 and studied it in the four months ending March In that month, Scientific Sales Inc. of Lawrenceville (NJ) quoted the system at US$ plus US$75 shipping to Canada. The sensor package (#6357) incorporates an arrow-vane windset, a tipping-bucket rain gauge, shielded temperature and humidity sensors, and a spread-spectrum 900-MHz data transmitter. 117-V converter powers it, but it also houses three C-cells for hydro outages. The WeatherLink software package (#6519USB) plugs into a computer for data storage, analysis, and transmission to other parties a separate feature I did not buy. Evaluation setup For my experiment, I compared VUE temperatures, relative humidities, dewpoints, wind directions and velocities, and sealevel pressures with those in the hourly sequences (METARs) VUE Outdoor Sensor System from St. Catharines Airport (CYSN), 8.9 km and 39 from my house in the flat northeast corner of Niagara Peninsula between Lakes Erie and Ontario. I also spot-checked VUE temperatures with a zero-error sling Environment Canada psychrometer and a wireless La Crosse Technologies temperature sensor averaging 0.2 C above METAR values. That sensor was always in the shade from January through March. Temperatures a bit high I soon noticed that my VUE temperatures were too high, especially in sunlight and with snow on the ground, so I took 20 readings in each of the following three conditions: Dark = Thick overcast and/or overnight; No Snow = Bright or dim sun, no snow; and SOG = Bright or dim sun, snow on the ground. Table 1 on next page lists the following errors and their standard deviations expressed in C. The indoor console (#6351M for Metric) contains an airpressure sensor and shows received and derived data including indoor and outdoor temperature, their extremes, the dewpoint, winds, rainfall and rate, and some history. A 1 A serious amateur meteorologist since 1943, Sander Schimmelpenninck operated an Environment Canada climatological weather station for 16 years CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, June 2014

8 Condition Error o C Standard Deviation Dark No Snow SOG Table1: Temperature errors for three different conditions It appears the VUE temperature sensor is very good, but the screen does not handle sunlight well, and reflection from a snow deck worsens the error. Adopting a compromise, I calibrated the temperature readout down 0.8 C, hoping for a mean error of less than one degree most of the time-close enough for nongovernment work. The allowable temperature error in the 2005 US NOAA Federal Meteorological Handbook (FMH) is ±0.6 C for temperatures between -50 C and +50 C. DAVIS VUE CUTLINES Outdoor sensor unit The outdoor multi-sensor unit sits about two metres above ground level on a pole and sends data to the indoor console via spread-spectrum radio. Its solar panel must point geographic south. Indoor console The 18-cm wide indoor console receives,logs, and displays data from the outdoor sensor unit. It connects to a house-current converter and also houses three backup C-cells. Three-day trends The WeatherLink software connects the console to a Windows or Mac computer and presents data in userconfigurable graphs and tables. Together the graphs may signal a frontal passage. Dewpoint errors were pretty small: 1.1 C with a standard deviation of 0.6 C in sunlight and 0.5 C with a standard deviation of 0.5 C in the dark. Here the FMH limits are ±1.7 C for dewpoints between -24 C and -1 C and ±1.1 C for dewpoints between -1 C and +30 C. Other findings mostly good Relative humidity reads 4% points too low in sunlight with a standard deviation of 5 in the sun and 1 with a standard deviation of 3 in the dark. I found no FMH standard, but 2 to 3 percentage points appear to be commonly accepted values for good hygrometers. Wind directions originally averaged 8 too high, with a standard deviation of 18, better than one-fourth of a cardinal, despite a tall cedar fence 5 metres west of the station and a two-story house 6 m to the south. It turned out my sensor unit was rotated 10 out of true north. Those are very good results. Wind speeds read far too low, due to my poor obstruction plane. Surface-level pressure was the big surprise, with a mean error of 0.01 mbar and a standard deviation of 0.02 mbar. The FMH allows ±0.68 mbar. I did not evaluate the tipping-bucket rain gauge except to notice that it responds even when only a trace of rain falls. The VUE does not record snowfall. Davis Instruments support technicians do not work on users' systems by remote control, a great diagnostic time-saver used by many sophisticated IT firms. This doubtless helps avoid lawsuits when PCs go up in smoke, but corporate lawyers have found language to prevent those. I hope Davis hires one who can. Conclusion As Davis Instruments entry-level weather station, Vantage VUE is worth the money. The company s full weatherstation line tops out at well over $1,000. The WeatherLink s current-weather screen shows a oneline weather forecast for the next 24 hours, based mainly on pressure and wind-direction trends. Casual observation shows it does not do badly for a single-station forecast - but that is not saying much. CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, Juin

9 WMO Annual Climate Statement Highlights Extreme Events Geneva, 24 March 2014 The year 2013 once again demonstrated the dramatic impact of droughts, heat waves, floods, and tropical cyclones on people and property in all parts of the planet, according to the World Meteorological Organization s (WMO) Annual Statement on the Status of the Climate. The report confirmed that 2013 tied with 2007 as the sixth warmest on record, continuing the long-term global warming trend. It provided a snapshot of regional and national temperatures and extreme events as well as details of ice cover, ocean warming, sea level rise, and greenhouse gas concentrations all inter-related and consistent indicators of our changing climate. Thirteen of the fourteen warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century, and each of the last three decades has been warmer than the previous one, culminating with as the warmest decade on record. The average global land and ocean surface temperature in 2013 was 14.5 C (58.1 F) 0.50 C (0.90 F) above the average and 0.03 C (0.05 F) higher than the decadal average. Temperatures in many parts of the southern hemisphere were especially warm, with Australia having its hottest year on record and Argentina its second hottest. Naturally occurring phenomena such as volcanic eruptions or El Niño and La Niña events have always contributed to frame our climate, influenced temperatures or caused disasters like droughts and floods. But many of the extreme events of 2013 were consistent with what we would expect as a result of human-induced climate change. We saw heavier precipitation, more intense heat, and more damage from storm surges and coastal flooding as a result of sea level rise - as Typhoon Haiyan so tragically demonstrated in the Philippines, said WMO Secretary-General, Michel Jarraud. There is no standstill in global warming, said Mr. Jarraud. The warming of our oceans has accelerated, and at lower depths. More than 90 percent of the excess energy trapped by greenhouse gases is stored in the oceans. Levels of these greenhouse gases are at record levels, meaning that our atmosphere and oceans will continue to warm for centuries to come. The laws of physics are non-negotiable. Weather forecasting, including of storms and other hazards, has become much more skillful in recent years. As demonstrated in October by Cyclone Phailin, the second strongest tropical cyclone to strike India since modern records began, improved forecasting, combined with government action to build national resilience and provide shelters, greatly reduces the loss of life. We must continue strengthening preparedness and early warning systems and implementing a multi-hazard approach to disaster risk reduction, he said. The Status of the Climate Report contains a peer-reviewed case study into Australia s record warmth in The study by scientists at the Australian Research Council s (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, University of Melbourne, Australia, used nine state-of-the-art global climate models to investigate whether changes in the probability of extreme Australian summer temperatures were due to human influences. Comparing climate model simulations with and without human factors shows that the record hot Australian summer of 2012/13 was about five times as likely as a result of human-induced influence on climate and that the record hot calendar year of 2013 would have been virtually impossible without human contributions of heat-trapping gases, illustrating that some extreme events are becoming much more likely due to climate change, the study concluded. WMO s statement, which is an internationally recognized authoritative source of information, highlights the key climate events of 2013:! Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), one of the strongest storms to ever make landfall, devastated parts of the central Philippines.! Surface air temperatures over land in the Southern Hemisphere were very warm, with widespread heat waves; Australia saw record warmth for the year, and Argentina its second warmest year and New Zealand its third warmest.! Frigid polar air plummeted into parts of Europe and the southeast United States.! Angola, Botswana, and Namibia were gripped by severe drought.! Heavy monsoon rains led to severe floods on the India-Nepal border.! Heavy rains and floods impacted northeast China and the eastern Russian Federation.! Heavy rains and floods affected Sudan and Somalia.! Major drought affected southern China.! Northeastern Brazil experienced its worst drought in the past 50 years.! The widest tornado ever observed struck El Reno, Oklahoma in the United States.! Extreme precipitation led to severe floods in Europe s Alpine region and in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, and Switzerland CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, June 2014

12 Listening in on the deep: passive acoustic monitoring of whales and ocean noise off Nova Scotia 1 by Hilary Moors-Murphy 2 More than twenty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises occur off eastern Canada, including species listed under the Canadian Species at Risk Act such as endangered right whales, blue whales, and northern bottlenose whales. While much has been discovered about these magnificent creatures in our waters over the years, a considerable number of questions remain unanswered about the abundance, distribution, movement patterns, habitat requirements, and behavior of many of these species. Additionally, threats to these species, particularly the impacts of man-made ocean noise on individuals, populations, and their habitat, are poorly understood. To better protect whales in our waters, more baseline data on their occurrence and current exposure to man-made noise is needed. In order to address some of these knowledge gaps, Fisheries and Oceans researchers at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography are listening in on waters off Nova Scotia for whales. Our research program, supported by the Strategic Program for Ecosystem-Based Research and Advice (SPERA), uses passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) methods and technologies to investigate the occurrence of whales in specific areas throughout the year. Because many species of whales are highly vocal with distinctive vocalizations, PAM offers an effective alternative to more traditional visual surveys to collect information on species occurrence, even during winter months when weather conditions make visual surveys difficult. The acoustic recordings collected can also be used to characterize the ocean noise environment of the Scotian Shelf, including the level and rate of both natural and man-made sources of noise. Our current focus is on the eastern Scotian Slope, a probable migration route for large baleen whales and home to rare deep-diving toothed whales. Autonomous Multichannel Acoustic Recorders ( AMAR s Jasco Applied Sciences Ltd) are used to monitor sound across a wide frequency range, capturing both low and high frequency sounds (from 2Hz to more than 60 khz) in the Gully Marine Protected Area (MPA) and at two adjacent locations on the Scotian Slope. A near-continuous acoustic dataset extending over a two-year period ending in October 2014 is being collected and analyzed. The most reliable datasets collected during the first year of this study show that noise levels occurring along the eastern Scotian Slope are roughly comparable to deep-ocean noise measurements made elsewhere. Noise from various sources, including wind-origin noise, vessel noise, and seismic survey impulses have been identified. As part of future work, we will continue to characterize environmental noise levels occurring in the area, especially noise contributions from specific human activities such as local and distant shipping, fishing activities, and seismic surveys. Deployment Locations Vocalizations from many different species of whales were detected in the first year of recording including blue whales, fin whales, sei whales, humpback whales, sperm whales, northern bottlenose whales, Sowerby s beaked whales, killer whales, pilot whales, and small delphinids. Many of these species were detected consistently during all seasons of the year, demonstrating that both toothed and baleen whales occur in the study area year-round. The vocalizations of some species, such as fin whales, occurred more often during winter months, suggesting that fin whales may be largely winter residents of the Scotian Slope. This is interesting given the fact that many large baleen whales are presumed to migrate to more southern waters during the winter to breed - our data shows that at least some individuals of these species remain in our waters throughout 1 First published in Canadian Ocean Science Newsletter, No. 76, May Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, NS CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, Juin

13 the year. Scotian Shelf northern bottlenose whales are known yearround residents of the Gully MPA and the nearby Shortland and Haldimand canyons, all of which have been identified as critical habitat of this endangered population. It is known that these whales travel between the three canyons, but the extent to which they use between-canyon areas is unknown. One of the main objectives of the current project is to investigate how northern bottlenose whales are using the continental slope areas between canyons, to determine if these areas may also constitute critical habitat for the population. More detailed analysis of the acoustic data collected will help answer this, and many other questions relevant for protecting at risk whale species. A group of northern bottlenose whales socializing in waters of the Gully Marine Protected Area (Photo credit: Hilary Moors-Murphy). William Li, DFO Scientist, Honoured by ASLO A Note from Alain Vézina, DFO Regional Director, Science It is with great pride that I let you know that Bill Li will receive an award [John Martin Award] this week [May 20] from the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) 3 for his seminal 1983 paper primary production in the ocean... Bill's paper changed our understanding of what organisms are responsible for most of the primary production in the ocean and remains one of the foundations of modern conceptions of marine food webs. This work also continues to have important implications for applied questions such as the impact of climate change on the productivity of the Arctic ocean as declining ice opens the potential for new fisheries. I am sure you will join me in congratulating Bill on this latest mark of recognition for his major contributions to marine science that have made him one of the most esteemed and respected researchers at BIO and in the department. The John Martin Award Background The John Martin Award, established in 2005, recognizes a paper in aquatic sciences that is judged to have had a high impact on subsequent research in the field. The model for such a paper is Martin et al (1991), which laid out the case 3 Note from the Editor: Some years ago ASLO officially changed its name to Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. for iron limitation of phytoplankton productivity in the ocean. This award will be given to at most one paper per year. Unlike the Lindeman Award, which recognizes very recent papers (within two years) by young investigators, the Martin Award is for papers at least ten years old. Martin, JH, RM Gordon, and SE Fitzwater The case for iron. Limnol. Oceanogr. 36: Eligibility A nominated paper must be at least ten, but no more than thirty years old. It must be published in English and can be from any area of aquatic sciences. The spirit of the award is such that papers leading to fundamental shifts in research focus or interpretation of a large body of previous observations will be favoured. In general, summarizing reviews and methods papers will not be favoured. Nominations Package Nominations must include a copy of the paper and a brief letter of less than 500 words describing its impact. The latter may include a citation analysis, but this is not required. Nominations may be made by any ASLO member, with the exception of the authors, or members of ASLO Executive, Board, or Award Committees. Criteria for judging the nominations 1. As stated above, the spirit of the award is such that papers leading to fundamental shifts in research focus or interpretation of a large body of previous observations will be favoured. In general, summarizing reviews and methods papers will not CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, June 2014

14 2. A standing committee will judge nominations. The committee will vote once per year. To be chosen for the award, a nominated paper must be named on the ballots of all committee members. Each committee member may vote for a limited number of nominations, with this number to be determined by the committee annually, based on the number of nominated papers on the ballot [i.e. the larger the number of nominations, the greater the number of votes per committee member; otherwise you'd never get unanimity]. 3. A paper may be nominated no sooner than ten years after it first appeared. Papers more than thirty years old will not be eligible. 4. No more than one award may be given per year; if more than one paper are named on all ballots in a given year, a runoff vote will be held and the loser(s) will be returned to the nominating ballot to be considered in subsequent years. 5. Nominated papers will stay on the ballot for three years or until unanimously approved for the award. After three years of consideration, papers not receiving the award will be removed from consideration. Nominated papers not receiving the award may be renominated as long as they remain eligible. Dr. William Li s Current Work Freshening of Arctic Ocean Favours Smallest Algae, Potentially Altering Food Webs In recent years, rising air temperature, increasing precipitation, higher river flows, and declining snow cover in the Arctic have led to large and rapid changes in the upper ocean. Surface waters in the Canada Basin - a large submarine basin in the Arctic Ocean - have also freshened (become less salty) due to increased sea ice meltwater and periodic large river runoff. "These climate related changes can alter the environmental conditions that support biological life," says Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) research scientist Dr. William (Bill) Li who has been engaged in research to explore the impacts of oceanic changes on phytoplankton, microscopic cells that function like plants to form the foundation of the marine food web. Previous Award Recipients 2006: Azam, F., T. Fenchel, J.G. Field, S. Gray, L.A. Meyer-Reil, and F. Thingstad The ecological role of water-column microbes in the sea. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 10: : Vannote, R. L., G.W. Minshall, K.W. Cummins, J. R. Sedell and C. E. Cushing The river continuum concept. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 37: : Eppley, R. and B. Peterson Particulate organic matter flux and planktonic new production in the deep ocean. Nature 282: : Koehl, M. A. R., and J. R. Strickler Copepod feeding currents: food capture at low Reynolds number. Limnol. Oceanogr. 26: : M.J.R. Fasham, H.W. Ducklow, and S.M. McKelvie A nitrogen-based model of plankton dynamics in the oceanic mixed layer. Journal of Marine Research, 48: : Øvind Bergh, Knut Yngve Borsheim, Gunnar Bratbak and Mikai Heldal High Abundance of viruses found in Aquatic Environments. Nature 340: : Wanninkhof, R., Relationship between gas exchange and wind speed over the ocean. J. Geophys. Res. 97, : Val H. Smith, Low Nitrogen to Phosphorus Ratios Favor Dominance by Blue-Green Algae in Lake Phytoplankton. Science 221: Figure 1: Since 2004, DFO research scientist Dr. William Li has been leading research to explore the impacts of oceanic changes in the Arctic on phytoplankton the foundation of the marine food web. Aboard the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, the team has carried out hydrographic observations and water column sampling at many stations in the Canada Basin, a large submarine basin in the Arctic Ocean. Photo by Vera Williams (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) Ocean observations and sampling The research team, formed in 2002 with Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists from the Pacific and Maritimes regions, carries out ongoing hydrographic observations and sampling at about two dozen stations in the Canada Basin each summer. Funding from the Canada's Three Oceans (C3O) project led by Dr. Eddy Carmack (CMOS Bulletin SCMO, Vol.42, No.2, page 50-51), a Fisheries and Oceans Canada International Polar Year (IPY) initiative, enabled the team to carry out more extensive sampling in CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, Juin

15 Every year aboard the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent the team samples key ocean properties from the surface to the ocean bottom approaching 4,000 metres including temperature, salinity, total phytoplankton content (by measuring chlorophyll a, dissolved nutrients (nitrate, silicate, and phosphate), picophytoplankton (smallest algae), nanophytoplankton, and bacteria. These nine quantities reveal a story about the changing ocean climate in the Arctic and related changes in the phytoplankton community. Nutrients and increased ocean stratification "Phytoplankton require both sunlight and nutrients, which are essentially plant food, to grow. The problem is that plankton grow in the sunlit surface layer usually down to at most 200 metres in depth, while the ocean stores nutrients mainly at depths of 200 to 4,000 metres," says Dr. Li. "This means that the water column needs to mix for nutrients from deeper layers to reach the surface layer." Figure 3: Fisheries and Oceans Canada technical expert Karen Scarcella operates a flow cytometer, which uses rapid electronic detection of light emission to analyze phytoplankton and bacteria in seawater samples from the Arctic Ocean. The speed, accuracy, and precision of flow cytometric analysis enable microbial cells to be surveyed and mapped at the high spatial resolution needed for detailed ecological study. Photo credit: William Li (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) Figure 2: Sampling equipment is deployed in the Arctic Ocean from the CCGS Louis. S. St-Laurent as part of a study on how oceanic changes are affecting the phytoplankton community. Continued research is necessary to determine if an observed shift toward smaller phytoplankton in the Arctic is an ongoing trend that could alter other parts of the marine food web. Photo: John Michael Wallace, University of Washington. Whether the water column which extends from the surface to about 4,000 metres mixes up and down depends on whether there is a difference in the density (mass per unit volume) of the water. When there is heavy water on top of light water, it creates a physically unstable situation and the water will mix, which is the natural tendency of the system to achieve stability. However, if the surface water is lower density (lighter) it will stay on top of the heavier water making mixing more difficult. How does this all relate to the Arctic Ocean? "The climate is now warming the air and surface water, causing sea ice, which is fresh water, to melt. This melting is exacerbated by the inflow of warm Pacific Ocean water underneath the cold surface cap of Arctic water. In addition, there is greater runoff from rivers such as the Mackenzie, which also increases the amount of fresh water entering the Arctic Ocean. As a result, the surface of the Arctic Ocean is becoming warmer and fresher. Warmer water is less dense (lighter) than cold water, and fresher (less salty) water is also lighter than salty water," says Dr. Li. "This increased stratification of ocean layers reduces water column mixing and, therefore, the movement of nutrients to the surface, which is what we have observed. Since sea ice is low in nutrients, increased melting is also diluting the concentration of nutrients in surface waters." Data collected since 2004 reveal that while deep-water nutrients have not changed, upper-ocean nutrients have decreased. For example, there is now less nitrate in the top 100 metres of the water column than a few years ago. There is also some evidence that the phytoplankton growth in the Arctic is controlled more by the availability of nutrients than the total amount of solar radiation received over the growing season. Smaller phytoplankton are increasing The research also reveals that there has been an increase in the smallest algae (picoplankton) in the Canada Basin, both in total amount and as a percentage of total phytoplankton. Bacteria are also increasing, while the total amount and percentage of larger nanoplankton have decreased. Scientists presume that smaller cells fare better than large cells because they are more effective in acquiring nutrients and less susceptible to gravitational settling CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, June 2014

16 "The size of a plankton cell may denote its role in the ecosystem because size determines what types of animals farther up the food chain can eat the cell," says Dr. Li. "Smaller picoplankton tend to be consumed by small animals such as protozoans, which will be eaten by small herbivores, which will be eaten by small carnivores. On the other hand, larger nanoplankton will tend to be eaten by larger protozoans and larger invertebrate animals such as copepods (tiny crustaceans of a few millimetres in size), which are food for larger fish and so on." Potential impacts on the food web "If current changes persist and the Arctic ecosystem continues to shift toward more small algae, a plausible consequence is an altered food web because the only things that consume small algae are microbes and other kinds of small animals. This means that less of the food web would be suitable for consumption by larger animals such as fish, Arctic char,and marine mammals," says Dr. Li. "Our team is collaborating with researchers who are monitoring other parts of the food web, which will tell us whether what we suspect may be going on is in fact discernable." Reference: DFO, Science, website visited on May 23 rd, Congratulations from the CMOS community to Dr. William Li as recipient of an ASLO distinguished award. Figure 4: Research findings reveal that from 2004 to 2008, water temperature increased and salt content decreased in the Arctic Ocean, causing a stronger vertical separation of the water column and reduced mixing between upper layers, where phytoplankton grow, and deeper layers where most nutrients are stored. This led to a reduced concentration of nutrients in the upper ocean, which favoured an increase in smaller cells (picoplankton and bacterioplankton) and a decrease in large cells (nanoplankton). Figure by: William Li (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) Climate-ecosystem linkages "Our findings suggest a chained link of cause-and-effect from physical drivers to biological responders, that is to say between climate and the ecosystem," says Dr. Li. "However, due to inter-annual variability, a much longer observational time series is necessary to establish a trend. As others have noted, our understanding of the biological impacts of climate change cannot approach the level achieved in physical climate science." Nonetheless, observed changes in surface nutrients combined with an increase in smaller phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean lead Dr. Li to conclude that other parts of the food chain may also be susceptible to change. Next Issue CMOS Bulletin SCMO Next issue of the CMOS Bulletin SCMO will be published in August Please send your articles, notes, workshop reports or news items before July 4, 2014 to the electronic address given at the top of page 74. We have an URGENT need for your written contributions. Prochain numéro du CMOS Bulletin SCMO Le prochain numéro du CMOS Bulletin SCMO paraîtra en août Prière de nous faire parvenir avant le 4 juillet 2014 vos articles, notes, rapports d atelier ou nouvelles à l adresse électronique indiquée au haut de la page 74. Nous avons un besoin URGENT de vos contributions écrites. CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, Juin

17 Canada's Top Regional Weather Stories for 2013 by David Phillips 1 Atlantic Regional Highlights 1. January Ends Warm, Windy, and Snowless In late January, an intense weather system blanketed the Maritimes with rain, fierce winds, and mild air that set record high temperatures. Charlottetown broke its old January 31 record when temperatures soared to 11.2 C. The city also set a near record for the least amount of snow in January - a mere 15 cm. In Nova Scotia, the sudden warmth forced major ski hills to close and backyard ice rinks to melt away. High winds in excess of 100 km/h blew down construction scaffolding in Halifax and delayed flights. High winds also wreaked havoc in Saint John as near hurricane-force wind gusts tore pieces off building roofs and pushed ocean waves over city roads. Across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI, thousands of residents lost power. 2. Fog on Fogo No one got off Newfoundland s Fogo Island for five days at the end of February because heavy ice conditions and dense fog shut down ferry and air travel. The Island s school closed, stores ran low on supplies, and residents were unable to attend off-island medical appointments. Feelings of isolation and frustration only increased as strong winds blew more fog in on the Island instead of blowing it away. 3. Early Spring Flooding A moist weather system tracked slowly across New Brunswick on March 13 setting rainfall records in Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, and Gagetown. Upwards of 30 cm of snow on the ground melted in a day or two. Heavy rains, snowmelt runoff, and ice jams sent flood alerts up and down the Saint John River. Residents kept a close watch on a large ice jam on the Nashwaak River, nervous it would spill its banks. On the 15th, residents in Stanley, north of Fredericton, confronted the town s worst flooding in about 40 years amidst rushing water and massive chunks of ice. 4. Newfoundland s Victoria Weekend Snowfall A slow-moving low-pressure system south of Newfoundland brought inclement weather to much of the Island during the May long weekend. Rain and fog prevailed over the Avalon Peninsula, while significant snow fell on higher terrain. Gander was hardest hit with 58 cm over 26 hours. May s previous record total was 49 cm in 1972 and average May snowfall is 13 cm. Needless to say, the heavy, wet snow put a damper on long-weekend activities, although some campers stuck it out and children entertained themselves with snow forts instead of campfires. 5. New Brunswick Tornado On July 20, hot, humid, and unstable air combined with a cold front to generate severe thunderstorms across southern portions of New Brunswick. The most intense event occurred in the Grand Lake area where a tornado touched down near Jemseg. Winds blew between 135 to 175 km/h. The tornado uprooted trees, broke phone lines, and damaged buildings. At least three barns, sheds, and a garage were destroyed in the Whites Cove area with barn debris scattered 350 m away. 6. New Brunswick Soaker A slow-moving weather system with embedded thunderstorms yielded record rains in New Brunswick on July 26. Fredericton and nearby Gagetown got 120 mm of rain, but the heaviest deluge occurred at St. Stephen where 163 mm fell. For Fredericton there had never been a wetter day in July. The rain that fell on the 26th was 40 per cent more than normal for the whole month. Not only was it the wettest day, it was also the wettest July ever (228.2 mm) with records dating back to the 1870s. In St. Stephen, it rained every day between July 17 and July 26. In total, 271 mm of rain fell leaving businesses and residents with flooded basements. 7. August Soaker Another slow-moving storm tracked over Atlantic Canada on August 10 bringing moderate to heavy rains and strong southerly winds to the region. The nastiest effects were felt along Newfoundland s south coast. Marystown and other communities along the Burin Peninsula received in excess of 60 mm of rain resulting in damage to both municipal and provincial roads and culverts. Personal losses included flooded basements and washed-out driveways. 8. Blustery Labour Day Weekend An intense weather system that developed off the east coast of the United States in late August tracked across Nova Scotia dumping in excess of 50 mm of rain in western sections of the province. Moving eastward, the system s high moisture content combined with its slow-moving track to bring the heaviest rainfalls over southern and eastern Newfoundland. Gander received 125 mm more rain than it got during Hurricane Igor leaving the Trans-Canada Highway between Gander and Gambo impassable. 1 Senior Climatologist, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada, Downsview, Ontario CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, June 2014

20 6. James Bay Flooding A spring ritual on the shores of James Bay occurred on May 2 when flooding and backed-up sewers threatened the northern Ontario First Nations communities of Attawapiskat and Kashechewan. Sewage and water flooded forty homes and buildings. In the end, eight communities in Ontario s far north came under states of emergency warnings, including Moosonee, mostly due to rising waters. 7. A Tornado Swarm On May 21, two thunderstorm clusters raced across southern Ontario bringing frequent lightning, hail, heavy downpours, strong and gusty winds, and three tornadoes one south of Midland, another near Barrie, and a third near Glenarm in Kawartha Lakes. The Glenarm tornado was the most powerful; an EF-2 with peak winds between 180 and 200 km/h. In addition to the tornadoes, straight-line winds caused significant damage southwest of Fenelon Falls. Twisting winds were strong enough to debark trees and toss roofs into the air. 8. Torrential May Rains A round of thunderstorms brought excess rains to Toronto and parts of southern Ontario on May 29. Port Stanley and Toronto East York reported the most rainfall, with 89.0 mm and 70.2 mm respectively. In Toronto, the rains were enough to flood the Don Valley Parkway, which became completely impassable during the morning rush hour with sections in both directions either under water or coated in mud and debris. Flood waters rose as high as vehicle doors in some spots and also inundated GO Transit tracks. 9. Windsor s Wettest Month on Record July was the wettest month in history in Windsor mm some three times the monthly normal of 82 mm. The previous all-time record was 244 mm set in It even beat the wettest month ever September 1981 with mm. It rained hard and often during the month with 21 wet days, which was also a record. The frequent deluges caused headaches for local farmers. As one grower said: I just can t get on the field because the machinery doesn t float. 10. A Soaker in the North A slow-moving low-pressure system gave parts of northern and central Ontario significant amounts of rain over the weekend of July 26 to 28. Thunderstorm rains totalled 92 mm in Nagagami, 64 mm in Armstrong, and 62 mm in Sault Ste. Marie, Geraldton, and Kapuskasing. With cooler air, conditions were favourable for the development of waterspouts. At least 12 funnel clouds and seven waterspouts were spotted over the Great Lakes and Lake Nipissing. 11. Four Tornado Days A line of severe thunderstorms developed late on August 7 from Arthur to Orillia to north of Minden. The thunderstorms produced four weak tornadoes. The strongest twister, an EF-1, took out a swath of trees northwest of Haliburton. 12. Sault Soaker in September Severe thunderstorms with up to 100-mm downpours and thousands of intense lightning strobes occurred on September 9 from Manitoulin Island to Sault Ste. Marie. Flooding waters, washouts, and mudslides closed sections of highways and city streets. Excessive rains led to evacuations, flooded basements, and washed away culverts, opening up sinkholes and blowing off manhole covers. On a sad note, a motorcyclist drowned in a washout. In Sault Ste. Marie s north end, flash flooding contributed to the collapse of a railway trestle. 13. Soggy September Weekend A slow-moving cold front combined with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico produced heavy bands of rain and scattered thunderstorms across much of southern Ontario on September 20 and 21. Total rainfall exceeded 100 mm in London (Dorchester), Wellesley, New Hamburg, and Waterloo, while areas from southern Georgian Bay to Bancroft received nearly 50 mm of rain. The September soaker washed out several activities planned for the International Plowing Match near Mitchell and Stratford. 14. Record Wet Fall The exceptionally wet fall had to be a huge disappointment to residents and tourists wanting to view the fall colours in all their splendour. Locations like Owen Sound experienced their wettest October on record with over 200 mm of rain or just over twice the normal rainfall. Between October 15 and November 2, every day in Owen Sound was wet. Indeed, the entire year broke wet weather records. By December 4, yearly precipitation in the city totalled 1294 mm beating the previous wettest year record set in Swarm of Waterspouts over Lakes Ontario and Erie On October 20, a spectacular number of waterspouts were sighted over the Great Lakes 67 in total, with 54 and 13 over Lakes Ontario and Erie respectively. Many spouts lasted up to 15 minutes. It was a Great Lakes record (more than double the previous number). According to Wade Szilagyi, Environment Canada s authority on waterspouts, it was also a world record for a single-day total. 16. First-ever Snow-nado? On November 23, a very rare late season tornado touched down north of Prescott when a sharp cold front tracked through Eastern Ontario. The EF-1 tornado featured winds around 150 km/h, which was strong enough to damage a farm silo and inflict other minor property damage. It was one of the latest tornadoes ever reported in Canada and occurred in a blizzard of snow and hail with freezing temperatures. Environment Canada s Dave Sills, a CMOS Bulletin SCMO Vol.42, No.3, Juin

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